Worker strikes in U.S. were up
in 2011, but still extremely rare
Laurie Kelly, Megan Rivas and Renae Miller, union reps for
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, were among
250 attendees at the 16th annual Oregon Labor Law Conference
in Portland.
Labor Law forum draws 280
union reps, shop stewards
Another sellout crowd of
280 participants attended the
16th annual Oregon Labor Law
Conference Jan. 27 in Portland.
Coordinated by Norm Mal-
bin, general counsel for the In-
ternational Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers Local 48,
the day-long conference is all
about educating union reps,
shop stewards, and elected offi-
cers on the latest labor laws so
they can better represent their
members.
A host of labor law experts
were brought in to lead work-
shops. Among the presenters
were retired National Labor Bob Bussel, director of the Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) re- Education and Research Center
gional director Richard Ah- at the University of Oregon,
ern; Oregon Employment Re- conducts a hands-on workshop
lations Board chair Paul that focused on the national
Gamson; and labor attorneys assault on public employees.
Liz Joffe, John Bishop, Nel-
son Hall, Barbara Diamond,
see nothing wrong with it,” Lieb-
Mike Tedesco, and Cheryl Coon. man told the union audience. “It’s
The luncheon’s keynote nothing more than what employers
speaker was Labor Commis- have posted for years. We’ve got an
sioner Brad Avakian.
OSHA (Occupational Safety and
In a morning plenary session, Health Administration) poster;
management-side attorney Rick we’ve got an OFLA/ FMLA (Ore-
Liebman provided an overview gon Family Leave Act/Family
of recent employment law court Medical Leave Act) poster; we’ve
decisions, as well as and update got an EEOC (Equal Employment
of new statutes and regulations.
Opportunity Commission) poster;
One topic Liebman touched on we’ve got a BOLI (Bureau of La-
was a new NLRB regulation that bor and Industries) poster on wage
has caused a management uproar. and hours; a Department of Labor
The rule requires all private-sector poster — why would this be any
employers to display a poster that different? All it does is tell employ-
explains workers’ rights to form a ees what their rights are.”
union under the National Labor
Liebman actually advocates for
Relations Act. The regulation orig- the posting requirement, saying it
inally was to go into effect Dec. 21, possibly could possibly ward off a
2010, but the backlash by big busi- unionizing drive by nipping in the
ness was so intense (the National bud early whatever problem a
Association of Manufacturers sued worker(s) might have.
to block it), that it was postponed
Liebman believes the third time
— twice. It now is set to go into ef- will be the charm.“I suspect this
fect April. 30.
time it will get posted. Most em-
“I break ranks with most of my ployers have gotten used to the fact
management colleagues in that I that it is coming,” he said.
PAGE 8
Large-scale strikes and lockouts
rose slightly in 2011, according to the
latest numbers from the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics. The bureau re-
leases data once a year on what it
terms “work stoppages” involving at
least 1,000 workers that last at least
one day. There were 19 such work
stoppages in 2011, up from 11 the pre-
vious year.
The 2011 strike with the biggest
impact, in terms of lost workdays, was
the 10-day strike at Verizon by 45,000
members of Communications Work-
ers of America. Also of note was the
four-month lockout by the NFL of
1,900 members of National Football
League Players Association.
While an increase from 11 to 19
strikes is a 72 percent increase, it
doesn’t buck the trend: Strikes have
almost disappeared in the United
States since 1980. The 1950s averaged
352 large-scale work stoppages a year,
a record which fell to 283 a year in the
1960s, and 289 a year in the 1970s.
Work stoppages then plummeted to 83
a year on average in the 1980s, 35 a
year in the 1990s, and 17 a year in the
first decade of the 21st century.
And that’s just the number of work
stoppages. Strike activity from the
1950s to 1970s also involved more
workers, and lasted longer: In a typi-
cal year, one to two million workers
took part in work stoppages which
lasted on average 20 days. Last year’s
major work stoppages, by contrast, in-
volved 113,000 workers, who stayed
out nine days, on average. Eleven of
the 19 large-scale work stoppages last
year lasted a week or less, including
five hospital strikes that lasted just one
or two days.
Two of the 19 large-scale work
stoppages in the BLS list were in the
Pacific Northwest — an eight-day
strike by 1,900 teachers in Tacoma,
Washington, and a purported 11-day
strike in April by 1,500 members of
Oregon-headquartered United Associ-
ation of Plumbers and Steamfitters
Local 290.
But details of the Local 290 work
stoppage cast doubt on BLS figures.
Al Shropshire, elected Local 290 busi-
ness manager this January, said inter-
mittent pickets were put up at just
three contractors after a multi-em-
ployer agreement expired. Picketing
occurred on just four or five days, with
fewer than 50 members impacted —
far less than the 1,500 members cov-
ered by the contract. Subsequently, the
employer group’s contract offer im-
proved, and a new labor agreement
was approved on a close vote.
Most of the time, a work stoppage
is a strike by employees. But as the
New York Times noted Jan. 22, lock-
outs — once rare — are increasingly
being used by employers to squeeze
concessions out of their unionized
workers.
Two work stoppages that began last
year — both lockouts — continued
into 2012:
• In late November, Cooper Tire
and Rubber Company locked out
1,000 members of United Steel Work-
ers Local 207L at its plant in Findlay,
Ohio, after they rejected a second
round of wage and benefit conces-
sions. The company operated the plant
with replacement workers brought in
from elsewhere, but locked-out work-
ers were ruled eligible for unemploy-
ment benefits. In January, workers rat-
ified a new contract and went back to
work.
• A lockout continues for 1,300
members of Bakery, Confectionery,
Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers in
Minnesota, Iowa, and North Dakota.
Their employer, American Crystal
Sugar Company, is the country’s
largest sugar-beet processor.
K noW Y our r igHts
y oU aRe entitleD to tiMe - loSS
BenefitS While the inSUReR iS
DeciDing WhetheR to accePt
yoUR WoRKeRS ’ coMPenSation
claiM . i f they Do not Pay yoU
theSe " inteRiM BenefitS ," they
May oWe yoU a Penalty .
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
FEBRUARY 17, 2012